Squadron Haunebu II - the troublesome build - being finished...

Some of you might've followed my adventures ordering this rather expensive kit, and how it was badly bent - in fact so much that I couldn't continue with the build?

Well, Squadron isn't even bothered with replying to my requests for help (all of this is in another thread) so yesterday I sat down pondering whether to throw it in the bin or to attempt some sort of bodge to finish the build? I went for the jury rig bodge and in "parked mode" I might get away with it. Enough to complete the build anyway... Not good enough for any close inspection on the lower hull but better than tossing it away at least.

I planned to equip my Haunebu II with LED's before getting it but my current lack of enthusiasm right now isn't exactly helping the creativity flow so I thought I'd ask you instead.

The control room is fairly simple. Drill some holes, block out any unwanted lights with aluminium foil, make a PCB and add some 0603/0402 smd LED's or similar, but the outside?
The circular windows will be lit for sure, but that's not exterior lights.

It is an aircraft of sorts and regardless of SS, Luftwaffe, or a civilian Vril project, it needs some external lights and I can't see any obvious places for lights, apart from one area, but that's just a slit (see picture) and nothing else.
How would you go about adding lights to such a "aircraft"?

Here is the control room. The consoles will be lit and also the centre column, but with some sort of simulated circular motion. I did originally think about re-casting the centre column in clear resin but I've lost that level of enthusiasm. Red and green leds are of a high enough wavelength to pass through the plastic anyway.



The control room layout will be something like this, apart from general interior lights that's going to be visible through the circular windows.



The problem remains with the exterior lights. The only obvious place for exterior lights is in the slit you can see at the arrow below.



So, how would you go about adding exterior lights to such a flying contraption?
I don't want to make a Christmas tree, but I doubt the various Haunebu projects would've been without any exterior lights - albeit they could've been turned off when trying to be stealthy I guess...

I'm primarily using 0603 LED's but I might have some 0402 lying about. (I even have some 0201 perhaps?) I'm talking about LED's for surface mounting here and the numbers are the size (6x3 mm or 4x2 mm) so I can put them inside very small objects if I want to and I control their intensity with PWM (pulse width modulation) so they aren't too bright - and hot. These little LED's are very bright unless regulated!

I'm driving the whole thing with a Cortex-M0+ microcontroller (or perhaps an Atmel ATTiny 85?) so I have total control over these LED's.
I can write some sort of instruction later on how to do your own electronics if there's any interest? (I'm an electronics engineer hobbyist too)

Anyhow, if you've got some ideas on how/where to add external lights, or an opinion why I shouldn't have external lights, then please enlighten me because I'm all out of ideas... (perhaps external lights would be wrong?)

Here's the original (?) drawing.



Cheers and thanks in advance!

Jens

Glad you're back at the bench mate. Would be a waste to throw it away, even if it is broken I'm sure you will still do a good job of it.

I can't be no help to your light conundrum. But just curious as to what is this spectacular machine? I mean was it just an idea the nazis had or did they actually build a prototype?

Jack10 said:

Glad you're back at the bench mate. Would be a waste to throw it away, even if it is broken I'm sure you will still do a good job of it.

I can't be no help to your light conundrum. But just curious as to what is this spectacular machine? I mean was it just an idea the nazis had or did they actually build a prototype?

Click to expand...

Cheers mate!

According to some sources they built a couple of Haunebu variants which they (SS & Vril) used to fly to New Schwabenland and South America. I for one think this is bollocks - if you ask me :p
But they are described in both text and drawings and they are the development from the original prototype Die Glocke.

I seriously doubt the Nazis developed anti-gravity propulsion in the late 30's or early 40's, but as a "paper tank" project this is a fun one!

Yep!!! I'm in too!!!

Could be interesting :p

Sorry I'm in late, just read a bit about this machine and it's form of propulsion...leave it to the Germans to put some real brain power into such a project.
If this was a theoretical form of propulsion way back then, how is it this hasn't been pursued to fruition?

Good for you not tossing it in the bin, keep at it, you won't regret it

Jim

Regarding the propulsion. There has been some scientific experiments to recreate Die Glocke (predecessor to the Haunebu series) and according to the records the anti-gravity "engine" used a ferrofluid based on mercury amalgamated with various other metals and then spun to silly high rotation speed with electromagnets. The experiments actually gave some interesting results but the power consumption was rather high, and this is where I doubt the Germans could've done this in the early 40's simply because we didn't have the means to store electrical energy back then in a "portable" format.
Still, it's exciting reading material and on par with some Tesla theories... I doubt they were tinkering with cold fusion back then.

Some say Operation Paperclip grabbed all Die Glocke/Haunebu research, others say they never managed because all the research was done in close proximity to Ludwikowice, Poland because that's where "The Henge" is located. (a facility where Die Glocke could be chained to a construction/henge in order not to cause mayhem.

Regardless it's all fun reading and it doesn't matter if you believe in it or not. I love the mysticism that's surrounded with the Wunderwaffen and the various bonkers research projects!

On a side note. There is another strange Wunderwaffen that have been captured and virtually nothing is known about it - despite it being on public display?!
It's the Kugelpanzer. Situated only a couple of yards next to the Maus in Kubinka Tank Musem, Russia.
It is stripped of its engine and partly welded shut - but all metallurgical tests are forbidden by the Russian authorities, and have always been! Why we don't know and it shouldn't be of any importance at all, but it is... spooky... :p

I'm sorting out the lights and the question is still open. Should there be any exterior lights? If so, where? It's the only scale model I can think of apart from a Star Trek/Star Wars model you can add some cool lights to without people thinking you've gone insane, but I still want to make it realistic. Perhaps less is more here? Stick to interior lights only? Cast yer votes please!

Looking at all the material available including pictures and artist impressions it would appear the only external lights were possibly the landing wheel lights when the undercarriage was deployed and maybe the usual anti collision lights / red & green port and starboard although if the saucer spun then this would be eliminated so in utter confusion it’s up to you

Regards

Colin

Colin - of course there must be some landing wheel lights!!! My lack of aircraft modelling is obvious here so big thanks for that!
I don't think the saucer part is spinning because the hull is welded/riveted to the control room. The inside of the anti-gravity "centrifuge", a.k.a the "engine" is the only rotating part I think, but regardless of that I agree with you that there are probably no external lights.

I shall read up on how landing lights look like and if it's possible to do with small LED's or if I have to use fibre optics or a led pipe? (or just skip it?)

I've been trying to find the best placement for a power switch today and it's going to be inside one of the lower guns (use the gun as a switch) or behind the gun assembly on the main (upper) gun.
I could fit all electronics and battery under the roof dome and run the wires through the centre column/engine but that would cause the issue of having to deal with wires when lifting off the roof so it's going to have to be elsewhere.
I can fit all the electronics easily inside the centre column but not the LiPo cell I'd planned to use, and not the charging circuitry either, so more thinking is required.
I'm probably just going to use enamel wire (the type used in inductors and relays) because there's very little amperage using those LED's with PWM. The can easily be hidden and they are easy to work with if you've got some experiment. I've seen some models crammed with thick, too long, wires and I'm going to try to give some inspiration on the electrical side with this model as well to help others perhaps progress in that department?

I briefly thought about adding a Bluetooth chip to the microcontroller so I could operate various "modes" with my Android phone but as I said earlier, this isn't going to be a Christmas tree so it's going to be a more subtle approach with the lights. If I ever do another sci-fi project then perhaps I can break out the more complex electronics.

It's 5 o'clock in the morning and the black primer is now squirted on all exterior parts and I have to say that this model was more thirsty than I was during my teens!
1.5 jars of Tamiya XF-69 with 70% iso was required and it's not even a fully covered spray, just enough for the next layers to grep, apart from the smaller parts and details where a fully covered spray was done.
I've only got one jar of XF-23 light blue for the lower hull but I'm worried it's going to run out because I need that for another, albeit smaller, model as well... Damn Tamiya and their 10 ml jars. I need to start using MRP, or order certain colours in bulk. The rest of the camo patterns should be ok since I've got unopened jars of paint for those colours but I've yet to exactly decide on the paint scheme...

I think at least ~35-40 ml of paint + 70% thinner is what's going to be required in the end to paint this contraption, but such is life painting big models I guess?
I'm keen on doing a couple of 1/16 scale models at some point in the future and this is a good lesson with regards to paint consumption. A different airbrush, or tip+needle, is also on the wishlist if I'm going to do more bigger models because my current H&S with 0.2 mm nozzle took forever! (or at least until 5 o'clock )

The jury rigged bodge seems to hold up but I haven't looked at it too closely yet to see how badly it looks when primed? I don't dare to cut new panel lines that the repair removed but I will have a closer look tomorrow and see if something can be done? I'm still not happy with how Squadron treated me with this kit but I'm glad I decided to push on instead of throwing it in the bin!

On the subject of lighting the model I've found a large quantity of WS2812b RGB LED's that I'd forgotten that I had. With those you can change colour to whatever you want which is both simpler to use than several different coloured LED's and the fact that you can play around until it looks great! You just use three wires instead of two and just send serial data to all the leds to tell them what colour and brightness they should have and that's it. They draw more power than simple 0603 LED's but there are ways around that so it's going to pan out I think.

I now need to get some sleep because in a couple of hours I'm apparently going to attempt a mechanical repair of a somewhat complex mechanism for a friend in need. It's going to be a sleepy day tomorrow I think...
ZZZzzz..........

I'm back on some medication again that I stopped taking 6 months ago and it makes me very tired so I haven't been as active as I'd wanted to, but broken body comes before modelling.
Anyhow, after everything was primed I did a pre-shading session with white yesterday and I've just sprayed the base coat and protected it with Vallejo varnish. Two layers of varnish to be precise. I don't want any paint to rub off - especially with pieces this big!
Twice during painting I had some splatter and the second time it was bad... I cleaned as good as I could and blended in the mishap but I'll hide that under the camo pattern that'll come next so it's not going to show - but nonetheless annoying...



Base coat of the interior is white and the chairs, consoles and centre column is black. The exterior of the Haunebu II is light blue.

We've got no tradition of using varnish on our wooden floors here in Sweden but going by the smell of the Vallejo varnish I'm prepared to bet a substantial amount of money that they've put some commercial floor varnish in those small bottles and put a 10x price tag on them! It works so I'm not complaining but it smells of perfume, which is a good indicator that this isn't developed for scale modelling in the beginning.

There are still some visible evidence of my bodge fix of the warped bottom hull pieces but it's not going to show when sitting on a flat surface, but I'm still not happy about it.

Tomorrow I can start masking the exterior and start to plan for the camo patterns. It's going to be a 3 colour camouflage. Using Tamiya + iso paint means it dries really quick and I can put on new masking as soon as I've ripped the old one off! Sadly I'm running out of paint faster than I can order so I hope I've got enough at home to finish this build? The XF-23 light blue I was going to use on another kit is virtually gone and I was going to use that on another model that's on the bench at the same time... Oh well, just add another jar to the next order. I'd ordered 4 jars of XF-69 Nato Black before I started this build and 2 are already empty being used as primer. I did an initial test with both MIG One Shot primer and some other acrylic primer but they both were super easy to scratch and they took forever to dry. Like three days... Using Tamiya paint + iso takes maximum 3 minutes to dry - and that's a winner every day of the week in my book!

I also primed all the small parts tonight, like landing wheels and gear, cannons and all other parts so I'm more or less ready for final assembly - but it has to be painted fully first before I can assemble it so it'll have to wait another few days. I'll weather it when assembled. The exterior at least... Interior I can weather as a separate module and prior to full assembly, but due to the electronics going in I might have to do this last? We'll see. At least I've been productive today too and now it's time for bed again!

Kids have gone to bed and the dogs have been out for the last time so now it was time for masking tape galore and a midnight camouflage paint, or so I thought...

...when the Achilles heel of this project - the warped bottom hull - decided to crack again as soon as I touched it... :mad:
I'm not going to translate the words that just came out of my mouth but pretty it wasn't.

I've attempted repair #5 and I'm going to have to accept that the bottom is going to have to stay light blue and not camouflaged...
I can't risk it. I'm going to have to repair the paint anyway where it cracked, but that's nothing compared to using masking tape and handling it whilst laying down the two colours.

I know it's not going to show that much since it's going to be displayed in parked mode, but it's really annoying - again, and again... %&/¤#%

I'm going to crack on with the upper hull and mask the first, of two, colours. It's the first time I'm doing this so there's a lot on the table - but I'm taking it easy and with a bit of luck it'll be done in a coupe of hours?
Wish me luck because I'm going to need it.

I painted the guns and their assemblies last night and I also painted, and assembled, the landing gear. The interior is more or less painted (apart from two tiny bits I forgot). I'm no longer so sure I'm going to put lights in it simply because I'm fed up with this kit being broken, but we'll see towards the end? I'm not gluing it until I've decided. There's plenty of room inside the roof of the control room to add both LiPo battery and custom circuit board so it might still happen.

If successful you'll see a couple of pictures in a few hours, and if not... well, you'll hear about it...

Cheers!

I am all eyes !!!!! I love what you are building in there!

Good luck with it bro, sounds like the build from hell bet you'll be glad when it's done! Hope it gets easier (and more enjoyable) as you go on matey.

Considering the problems you have had with this kit it looks fantastic mate.

Well, considering all the problems I've had with this project - let alone the fact that I've never made a splinter camo before, nor have I ever masked and sprayed something with an airbrush, the first colour looks pretty promising if you ask me?!
The lighting is bad in these photos but it came out far better that I could've hoped for so now onto the next colour!






I hope the green colour goes on as well as the grey did...

To be continued...

Looking good my friend! The splinter camo looks awesome so far. I'm enjoying following this build jens.

The green has less difference in contrast towards the dark grey to what I expected, but it's kinda dark right now and my light isn't exactly full colour so I will see the real results tomorrow.
I also think I might've put the paint on too translucent, but that'll also show tomorrow. I was careful not to spray a solid colour but my lack of experience is showing here...
...but considering this kit was almost in the bin not too many days ago I think it was worth it!

This is also pre any weathering and that makes all the difference if you know what you're doing

My right hand is knackered now from controlling the trigger, and most importantly spraying very little colour. I think an investment in a better airbrush is coming soon so I can set the paint flow manually instead of using the two-stage trigger!

Cheers, goodnight and thanks for all of your kind comments!!!
This modeller is now taking a break for the evening!




p.s. Yes, there are segments of the splinter camo that I'd like to change, but that's life I guess. I'll give it a coat of varnish tomorrow to protect all the hard work. After that it's assembly time, perhaps electronics and then decals and weathering. This was one big piece to paint, that's for sure!

I know very little about airbrushing as I've only ever brush painted (I'm scared to venture into airbrush painting just yet, and I can't afford it lol) but it does seem you can get much better results with an airbrush than brush painting. It's getting late here and I've been grafting away with the brush for a good few hours so think it's time I took a break too! Good night

Well Jens what with all the problems you've had, It's turning out to be a great build.

Second coat of matt varnish is now on and there's a distinct smell of cheap perfume in my bedroom... Not from having had a roll in the hay but from spraying Vallejo varnish o_O
A roll in the hay would also have been fun but modelling is way cheaper than women so I stick with my plastic friends for now :D

This means that tomorrow I'm going to be able to start the final leg of the journey. Decals, some assembly, weathering, a bit of electronics tinkering - perhaps, final assembly and the never ending tweaking with weathering until it's too much. This is one model I'm going to be happy to finish because it's given me more frustration than joy.

To be continued...